4 women beat 6,000 applicants for job to run world’s most remote post office in Antarctica

Four women from the United Kingdom-- Mairi Hilton, Lucy Bruzzone, Clare Ballantyne and Natalie Corbett-- have been picked to run the world’s remotest and coldest post office on theGoudier Island in Port Lockroy, Antarctica. This was in response to a job alert sent out by a British charity earlier this year.

The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust started looking for a team to handle their Port Lockroy base and spend five months in Antarctica. Reportedly, the chosen team would be responsible for counting penguins.

This would be the first time the site would be opened to the public since the Covid-19 pandemic, but sees at least 18,000 people a year, during Antarctic summer between November and March. The charity also indicated that they received about 100 applications each year.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

This year, they reportedly received 6,000 applications out of which a team of four women were selected. This includes a newlywed who is looking forward to her “solo honeymoon” as she will be leaving her husband behind for this adventure.

The team will count penguins in almost continuous daylight, live in subzero temperatures, and sleep in bunk beds, without electricity or running water, but they are really looking forward to it, reported the Guardian.

ALSO READ:Two explorers push limits in 3600-km-long trek across Antarctica, but why?

Mairi Hilton from Scotland, spent four years pursuing her PhD in conservation biology in Australia and will reportedly be in charge of monitoring the island’s colony of 1,500 gentoo penguins. “This will be my first time in Antarctica and I’m very excited to set eyes on the white continent,” the 30-year-old said in an interview.

London resident Lucy Bruzzone said that this job has been her “lifelong dream”. The 40-year-old has some experience with the cold as she was the chief scientist on an Arctic expedition in Svalbard for three months. This time she has been hired as the base’s leader.

“I’m most looking forward to stepping onto Goudier Island and taking in the cacophony and pungent smell of the penguins, the backdrop of the glaciers and Fief mountains, and being able to call it home for the next few months,” said the 23-year-old, Clare Ballantyne. She has been handed the responsibility of managing the 80,000 cards mailed from the site to more than 100 countries each year. Ballantyne recently graduated from Oxford University with a master’s degree in earth science.

Natalie Corbett is a 31-year-old newlywed from Hampshire. She runs a pet accessories business and will be in charge of handling the gift shop on the island, said the Guardian. Additionally, Vicky Inglis from Aberdeenshire will also join the team for 10 weeks as a general assistant. She has also stayed at the oldest permanent British base on the Antarctic peninsula previously.